Small Claims FAQ's

In Small Claims Court, there are limits on how much money you can ask for. In general, an individual can sue for up to $12,500. If you are suing on behalf of your business, you can sue for up to $6,250. An individual can sue twice per calendar year for over $2,500.  

You are not permitted to divide a claim into two or more claims (called claim splitting) in order to fall within the monetary limits. If your claim is over the small claims monetary limit, you may file a case in the regular superior court, where you can either represent yourself or hire an attorney to represent you. Instead of doing that, you may choose to reduce the amount of your claim and waive (give up) the rest of the claim in order to stay within the small claims court's monetary limit on claims. 

The deadline to file a lawsuit is called the statute of limitations. Most lawsuits MUST be filed within a certain amount of time. How much time someone has to file a case depends on the type of case and who they are suing. Figuring out when the right to sue someone starts can also be a complicated issue for the court to decide. When suing a government agency, look at that deadline first, no matter what type of case it is. 

Here are the statutes of limitations for some common types of legal disputes that may arise in Small Claims: 

It is not easy to figure out if it is too late to file (and even knowing whether a contract is written or oral can be very difficult). And if you are being sued and the plaintiff waited too long to sue you, you can bring that up in your court hearing and you may win automatically. 

No, in small claims court, you can ask a lawyer for advice before you go to court, but neither party can be represented in court.  

In Small Claims, the filing fee is based on the amount of your claim and the number of claims you have filed in the past 12 months: 

These are the current filing fees if you have filed 12 or fewer claims in the past 12 months: 

If you have filed more than 12 claims in the past 12 months, the filing fee is $100 (for any claim amount). Filing fees change, so make sure you check to see what the current filing fees for small claims cases are at the time of your filing. 

If you cannot afford the filing fee, you can ask the court to waive it by filing a Fee Waiver.  

Once you file papers to start a case, you typically have a court date (trial) in about 1-4 months.

Generally Small Claims cases are about money, not for the judge to order someone to do or not to do something. If you want someone to do something (or not do something) but having them pay you money would be acceptable instead, then a small claims case is an option. Sometimes, the judge may be able to make a conditional judgment that orders the person to do (or not do) something or, instead, pay you the money you're suing for. If you only want to ask the judge to order the other side to do something or not do something, you may need to start a regular civil court case, not a small claims case.

There are different kinds of cases you can file in small claims court. Here are some common ones: 

• Your former landlord refuses to return your security deposit. 

• Your tenant damaged your apartment and the repairs are more than the deposit. 

• A mechanic failed to fix your car and will not return the money or caused more damage. 

• You lent money to a friend and they refuse to pay you back. 

• You paid a contractor to work on your home and they didn't do it or did a bad job. 

• Someone wrote you a bad check or stopped payment on a check. 

• A government agency does something that hurts you or your property. 

After you file your small claims case, you are required to arrange for the defendant or the defendant’s agent for service of process to be served with a copy of the filed claim form. Service of the claim and order on the defendant shall be complete at least 15 days before the hearing date if the defendant resides within the county in which the action is filed, or at least 20 days before the hearing date if the defendant resides outside the county in which the action is filed. 

• Someone over 18, not you, hands the forms to the other side (personal service) - This is how forms are usually served. 

• Someone over 18, not you, hands the forms to someone at the other side's home or work (substituted service) - The server can hand the forms to an adult at the other side's home or work. The server must also mail a copy of the forms to the other side at that same address if they do substituted service.  

• The Court clerk sends the forms by certified mail - Only the court can serve this way. The court charges a $15 fee to serve this way and fee waivers do not apply to certified mailing requests. This type of service often works well when you are serving a business's agent for service of process. For others, it often doesn't work if the defendant is not present to sign for the delivery. 

You have to collect the money if you win your case. The court does not do it for you. You can find more information on collection practices here.  

If you started the case, you can't appeal if you lose your case. The judge’s decision is final. You can appeal if you are sued, or the other side sues you back and you lose.